THE MESSAGE OF THE SECOND
COMING: Bible Speaks Today series
By Steve Motyer
IVP. 320 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 789 744 064
What a thrilling and heart-warming subject! This is a book to delight and teach us all. Get it … and be encouraged by the reality of the return of our Lord of glory!
As with other books in the series, the starting point is always the Bible. And rather than extracting Second Coming verses and putting them into some sort of order, Steve Motyer goes through relevant passages, examining carefully the relevance of the context and seeking to understand the Second Coming verses within the message of the author. With Old Testament prophecy he also looks at how it is used in the New Testament.
Psalm 89 and 90 are used as an introduction to Scriptural use of time – either marked by the clock or as a specific moment. Then follow successive chapters looking at the major references to our Lord’s return. Three OT passages are looked at in detail, five from the Gospels and Acts, five from Paul, then Hebrews, Peter and Revelation. In writing that is extremely accessible, Motyer helps us to see the import of key prophecies and have our hearts warmed by their truths.
Finally, ‘the call is to prepare for His return by living in relationship with Him, and giving Him everything we’ve got – passionately, unremittingly, creatively, delightedly, and appropriately’. We are to ‘be ready’ for the Second Coming. I loved one illustration particularly: There is a lot of difference between waiting for a baby, and ‘we’re expecting a baby’! The former is passive, but like the latter, we are excited, life has been turned upside down, and is full of appropriate activity as we look forward to the great day! The book finished with a final charge from 2 Timothy as we ‘long for his appearing’.
Much of the content is derived from Steve Motyer’s 2016 book Come, Lord Jesus. However, the more academic approach of the earlier book (published by Apollos) has been rewritten for a general readership, with quite a lot of new material.
This is a book to enjoy, to be stimulated by and to learn from. It is also useful as reference, to look up some of those passages in Zechariah or Thessalonians. Not everyone will agree with the author’s interpretations, but the expositional approach is very helpful.
